Montana Jury Awards $4.3 Million In Train Crash Lawsuit

A Cascade County, Montana jury has awarded $4.3 million in damages to a BNSF Railway employee who was injured in a July 2011 train collision caused by a switching error. It was reported that Michael Schnittgen, who was a conductor, was injured when the train he was on was mistakenly routed to a siding southeast of Great Falls, where it collided with a parked maintenance train. Schnittgen sustained severe back injuries and a head injury. BNSF admitted that it was negligent in the collision, but its lawyers questioned the extent of Schnittgen’s injuries. It was claimed that some of his injuries weren’t due to the train crash. They also claimed that Schnittgen failed to take action to mitigate some of his injuries. The only issue in the civil trial was a determination of the damage amount.